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The Throne of B Y J O E D I S P E N Z A , D . C .

E D I T O R S N O T E B R I D G I N G T H E G A P

Our Divinity

The frontal lobe of the brain is what we use for focused consciousness attention. When we change what is in our frontal lobe, we change our awareness of the environment around us by changing how we perceive it and thus respond to it.

It was Wednesday night and I arrived home from a busy day of seeing patients. I cooked a great spaghetti dinner and I was alone. Almost alone, that is: My dog Skakus and I were sitting by the fire on a midwinters eve under an almost full moon in the eastern sky. James Taylor was singing Sweet Baby James in the background and once again I was amazed at how great my Italian sauce had turned out. As I looked over at Skakus, I wondered if he

even heard JT sayin like it is or if he could even appreciate the rhythm of Taylors classic, simple masterpiece, Carolina in my Mind. What I mean is, I know that he can hear, but what stops him from comprehending and assimilating these sounds from his environment into meaning? Does he hear what I am hearing from our shared environment? Or . . . does he even hear the music at all? Was Skakus missing out? One might argue that all species develop specialized anatomy and physiology over generations in order to adapt to environmental stimuli for survival. In other words, the slow process of evolution over hundreds of thousands of years has made Skakus, or any dog for that matter, far greater at his ability to hear sounds. Thats evolution, isnt it? However, even though his ability to hear a greater range of sounds is superior to mine (he certainly has bigger ears than I do), he still may not be hearing the music at all. Skakus has never had and may never have a need for rock-and-roll. He only needs an acuity for fine sounds that is an evolutionary, genetic requirement for guarding, hunting, and assessing his environment from other predators. Its a dogs life. So the question remains, Does he hear the music?

IT IS A DOGS LIFE Skakus certainly has the machinery to hear. Or does he? The ears are the receptors for receiving sound. If they are damaged, no one can hear. Given the fact that Skakus ears are not malfunctioning and sound is being transmitted, maybe Skakus brain is processing the sound but he is not hearing the music that I enjoy so much. Maybe his brain is just not wired for James Taylor, Tina Turner, or even Scooby-Doo. It has not been a part of his ancestral environmental stimuli that was genetically imprinted into his bloodlines. It might just be too harmonious for him to hear. Skakus brain is conditioned to detect disruptions or changes in his external world. He would hear the music being shut off and, by the same means, he might hear it when it is initially turned on. If I changed the volume of the music, that might get his attention too. His brain, though, tunes out the music that I am

listening to, because it is not important enough for him to attend to it. Its not a sound that his brain needs to hear consciously. For example, you probably never pay attention to or hear the phone ringing at your coworkers desk while you are working at your computer, but you remarkably can hear your phone when it rings. Your phone is important enough to get your attention, and this suggests that something is happening. That something is called attention or awareness or focus. When I drive my car, I never consciously pay attention to what it sounds like when it is running, except maybe when I initially start it. Once Ive paid attention to the fact that it is now running, my focus shuts off that particular cue, even though the car is still running. I just dont think about it any longer. Even though my brain is processing the sound of the car, my awareness is no longer present with that particular sound; therefore, the sound disappears. However, if the car starts to make sounds that are not part of the typical noise of a running engine, I will immediately retune my awareness to that different sound that my engine is now making, and it magically reappears. The sound while it was running perfectly had always existed. Are we missing out?

IT IS A HUMAN LIFE Our human brain processes 400 billion bits of information every second; however, we are only aware of about 2000 of those billions of bits of data. We are not aware of all of that information because we literally are not attending to those stimuli. This does not mean the brain is not processing that data. It means that processing the stimuli and being aware of the stimuli are actually independent functions. Skakus ears pick up the sounds and that information is relayed to the brain. However, the brain tunes it all out because his awareness is not present with those stimuli. They do not exist for Skakus. The same is true for human beings in reference to all that information we no longer attend to; we might be missing out on great opportunities proportional to what we think we know. What if all the information of the cosmos already exists for our brains to process, and accessing it is as simple as where we put our awareness? Genius is at hand and it may already exist. The metaphor of an open mind never meant so much. Think of awareness in this vast sea of potentials as if you were walking in the dark with a flashlight and shining your light on the reality that has been there all along. The brightness of the beam is awareness, and wherever we move our awareness is what we become aware of. The light that we project is called focused concentration.

THE METAPHOR OF AN OPEN MIND NEVER MEANT SO MUCH. THINK OF AWARENESS IN THIS VAST SEA OF POTENTIALS AS IF YOU WERE WALKING IN THE DARK WITH A FLASHLIGHT AND SHINING YOUR LIGHT ON THE REALITY THAT HAS BEEN THERE ALL ALONG.

The diameter of the visual field and the scope of our vision are the knowledge that we acquire through intellectual memory. We have to know what we are looking for. Consequently, until we familiarize and educate ourselves to what is potentially already out there, we will only see what we already know. If we accept this as truth, then how do we influence the brain to go from a processing unit to a conscious receiver of awareness of even greater potential experiences? How do we learn to listen to the music?

You see, Skakus is handicapped. It is not because he has four legs and we have two and are upright. It is not because we have op-posing thumbs and he has digits that lack

dexterity. And it is not because we have language and he has not the proper skill of advanced communication. It is not even that we have a bigger brain than Skakus, because elephants have bigger brains than

human beings. It is because the frontal lobes of our brains are proportionally more enlarged and developed than his, and for that matter, all species on this planet. This is what truly differentiates us from all of Gods creatures. It is the most important piece of anatomy in the human body.

THE NEW FRONTIER: THE FRONTAL LOBE The frontal lobe is the crowning achievement of the human being. In fact, it is the latest development of anatomy in the human brain. The enlarged size of our frontal lobe makes us unique from all other species of animals; no other area of anatomy so distinguishes us from other lifeforms. For example, in rats the frontal lobe is minuscule. In cats it makes up 3.5 percent of their brain anatomy. In chimpanzees the figure rises to 17 percent. In Homo sapiens, however, the frontal lobe makes up 30 to 40 percent of all the cerebral cortex. Since it is a newly developed area in evolution, maybe we are just learning how to use it and maybe

we have not used it to its true capacity. Until recently, scientists knew very little about the frontal lobe. They considered it the quiet area because most of the measurements of brain activity using instrumentation gave them little data as to what was really taking place there. However, with the advancement of technology, we now know more about its true function. It is the seat of inspiration of a human being. Let's have a brief anatomy lesson. The brain developed methodically in three distinct patterns or evolutionary stages. These three formations of the evolving brain absolutely differ in structure, chemistry, and function. The brain is really quite an archaeological site. Time has molded it into the biocomputer that it is today. The first part that developed is called the reptilian brain. The second part, the mammalian brain, formed and evolved around the first. The third part, new brain or neocortex, molded itself around the first two (figure 1). Dr. Paul McClean, the director of the Laboratory

OUR HUMAN BRAIN PROCESSES 400 BILLION BITS OF INFORMATION EVERY SECOND; HOWEVER, WE ARE ONLY AWARE OF ABOUT 2000 OF THOSE BILLIONS OF BITS OF DATA. WE THEREFORE ARE NOT AWARE OF ALL OF THAT INFORMATION BECAUSE WE LITERALLY ARE NOT ATTENDING TO THOSE STIMULI.

The Frontal Lobe

Human30% to 40%

Chimpanzee17%

Cat3.5%

Rat?%

of Brain Evolution and Behavior in Bethesda, Maryland, has stated, The three brains amount to three interconnected biological computers, each having its own intelligence, its own subjectivity, its own sense of time and space, and its own memory of functions. This hierarchy has become a part of our biological inheritance. Geographically, the neocortex is divided into four regions: the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the temporal lobe, and the occipital lobe (figure 2). The neocortex is where conscious awareness exists. You are comprehending the information on this page by the use of your neocortex. It is the seat of our identity, our personality, and our conscious mind.

THE FUNCTIONING FRONTAL LOBE

The frontal lobe is the area of the brain that we use for concentra-tion and focused atten-tion. It is the executive decision-maker. It de-cides on action, it regulates behavior,

and it is responsible for firm intention. If we were to use one word to describe the frontal lobe, it is intention. It is the intentional planner of our destinies. Therefore, whatever we continuously have on our minds whatever we focus on becomes our future destiny,because we inevitably will make choices based on what we repetitively keep our awareness on. Remember, the frontal lobe is that part of the brain that decides on action and regulates behavior because it is the chief executive of our intentions. Thomas Gualtieri, a neuropsychiatrist from North Carolina, excellently describes the frontal lobe as having the capacity to formulate goals, to make plans for their execution, to carry them out in an effective way, and to change course and improvise in the face of obstacles and failure, and to do so successfully, in the absence of external direction or structure. The capacity for an individual to focus on what they want and to achieve those goals/dreams in spite of obstacles or failure is what makes them an effective personality. These traits are hardwired in the construction of the frontal lobe and its connections.

The frontal lobe takes information from our environment and it effectively learns from those external stimuli. It is the problem-solver, the organizer, the forward thinker, the critical thinker, and the supervisor. It governs attention span, it maintains persistence, and regulates impulse control. Think of the frontal lobe as an area of the brain we use when we finally make up our mind about something. When we are aligned to an ideal in thought, deed, and word, we are truly focused individuals that are quite invincible. This is what makes human beings great.

Skakus does not hear the music because his frontal lobe is not developed enough to integrate the relatively new sounds into meaning. Hes wired for reaction, not integration. He may

never in his lifetime develop the ability to learn music, because he will never attend to what hes not neurologically capable of. His frontal lobe does not allow him to leap in a nonlinear progression of thought.

Figure 1

A. Reptilian B. Mammalian C. Neocortex D. Cross section through midline of the entire brain

UNTIL RECENTLY, SCIENTISTS KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE FRONTAL LOBE. THEY CONSIDERED IT THE QUIET AREA BECAUSE MOST OF THE MEASUREMENTS OF BRAIN ACTIVITY USING INSTRUMENTATION GAVE THEM LITTLE DATA AS TO WHAT WAS REALLY TAKING PLACE THERE.

The proportion of the human beings frontal lobe to the rest of the neocortex is three times as great as the frontal-lobe-to-neocortex ratio in a dog. Therefore, we gain more meaning from the environment through our five senses because the size of our frontal lobe allows us to be more adaptable, skilled, and integrated. To Skakus, the music is just continuous or discontinuous.

OUR FRONTAL LOBES GREATEST ABILITY Then what is it that gives us the unique ability to make the music appear or disappear at will? Or by free will attend to anything else, for that matter? Why do we have this gift of selective awareness and resultantly selective focus? How do we make our reality appear and disappear at will just by moving our conscious awareness? The answer is, once again, the frontal lobe. Whenever we learn something and we are integrating a thought into a long-term memory bank in our brain, something special happens. When we put all of our attention on the task at hand, the frontal lobe of a human being literally turns the volume down to the external world, to the feedback loop of our bodies,

and to relative time. When the frontal lobe is in full function, the internal process of concentration becomes so important to attend to that all of our conscious attention and awareness moves away from the stimuli of the external world and, as a result, the external world disappears. It is the common saga of the teenager humming to Pearl Jam in his head, and his mother struggling to get his attention to take the garbage out. She literally is not there. For him, she does not exist. At the moment that we are truly concentrated and truly committed to a concept, it neurologically becomes a part of our being. This is an intricate rewiring and pruning process that reshapes us from the inside out. The brain re-forms itself to include those thought processes as a new fabric of our being. What might take Skakus thousands of years to learn and adapt to may literally take moments for us. Our enlarged frontal lobe affords us this immediate skill. There is one requirement, however, for this luxury. It requires absolute single-minded focus. Think of it like this: If we are to give life to a concept that our brains can depend on, we cannot do it in the already-wired section of the brain that is connected to other thought patterns or our identity. In other words, you cant be in a section of your brain concerned about the shopping list for dinner or the ill health of your cat if you are interested in planning or creating your next vacation. Your attention would become divided and the wiring would just get more complicated. There must be virgin territory for a new wiring network. All of our associations to our identity have to be put aside for the proper long-term wiring. The executive frontal lobe wants to make whole new combinations of patterns built upon the knowledge of old ones. When our awareness is linked to these old ways of thinking and being, we will only choose to experience from the same awareness of our own memory. In

HOWEVER, WITH THE ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY, WE NOW KNOW MORE ABOUT ITS TRUE FUNCTION. IT IS THE SEAT OF INSPIRATION OF A HUMAN BEING.

Figure 2

Parietal Lobe

Frontal Lobe

Occipital LobeVisual Cortex

Temporal Lobe

other words, we are shining the flashlight in the same place and we are missing out on whats really taking place. We are only seeing more of the same. When we turn down the volume to the old wired patterns stored in the rest of the neocortex and we take bits and pieces of information from memory to build bigger ideas, we are truly bridging to new ground in our brains and in our life. The frontal lobe is the great architect that loves the freedom to create a bigger model of ideas based on concepts it has proven useful from the integration of past experiences. Brain researchers have now proven, through the use of sophisticated technology, that truly focused individuals can calm down all the areas of the neocortex are associated only with the awareness of the body and the environment. Therefore, the illusionary separation of an individual from the environment becomes a loose, thin membrane when one is truly focused. That is, one stops using the part of the brain that is the associative memory bank that reaffirms us to people, places, things, time, and past events. We literally become one with an idea. The throne of our divinity is the frontal lobe and its sword is focused concentration. The free will of the human being allows us the privilege to choose where we put our awareness. As we now know, our reality is where awareness is.

nRECOMMENDED READING Robertson, Ian. Mind Sculpture: Unlocking Your Brains Untapped Potential. Bantam Books. Amon, Daniel G., Change you Brain, Change your Life. Three Rivers Press. Restak, Richard M. The Brain: The Final Frontier. Doubleday.